The Press-Dispatch
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Local ........ A1-12 Obituaries ...... A3 With this ring A11 Sports ........ B1-7 Classifi eds .... B8-9 Church ....... C1-6 Opinion .......... C2 History ........... C7 WHAT'S INSIDE: CONNECT WITH US: NETedition ... pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net Phone: .................812-354-8500 Fax: .....................812-354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING 75¢ Wednesday, February 12, 2014 Volume 146 Number 7 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012 Three sections 30 pages Six inserts Chris Morton charged with killing his estranged girlfriend By Ed Cahill The trial for a Winslow man charged with the murder of his estranged girl- friend last October has been set to be- gin in August. Warrick County Superior Court Judge Keith Meier, who was appoint- ed as special judge after Pike Circuit Court Judge Jeff Biesterveld recused himself from the case, announced dur- ing a hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 11, that jury selection for the trial of Christo- pher Morton, 32, would begin on Tues- day, July 29, with the trial starting on Monday, Aug. 4. "And we will go until it's completed," Meier said. Morton, shackled and wearing a jail- issued orange jumpsuit, appeared be- fore Meier with his court-appointed at- torney, Tom Dysert, of Petersburg. Morton was arrested early Oct. 30 after his estranged girlfriend, Kelsie McDonald, 24, was found inside her Bluff Street residence with five gun- shot wounds to her back. She was tak- en by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in Jasper, where she was pronounced dead. Morton was subsequently charged with murder and battery in front of a minor and lodged in the Pike County Jail. During Tuesday's hearing, Meier granted a motion by Pike County Pros- ecutor Darrin McDonald to add a third charge, neglect of a dependent, which is a Class D felony. Dysert waived the formal reading of the new charge and entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of Morton. Meier also granted a request by Dysert to add Jasper attorney Nathan Verkamp as co-counsel for the defense, as well as a motion for forensic testing to be conducted on the alleged mur- der weapon "for ballistics and finger- prints" as well as blood-stained cloth- ing seized from both Morton and Kel- sie McDonald for DNA evidence. Darrin McDonald informed Meier that he had no objection. "I think it serves everyone's inter- est," he said. Afterward, Darrin McDonald said that many of the forensic tests that Dysert wants done were already "in the hopper and things we ordinarily would do." "We're trying to coordinate to make sure if there are additional things he Murder trial to begin in August Continued on page 2 By Andy Heuring Two people suffered minor injuries over the weekend in Pike County following a snow and ice storm last Tuesday evening. A Winslow teen suffered a head injury, but escaped serious injury in a crash that broke his pickup truck into two pieces Thursday afternoon. Nicholas Baker, 17, was driving his 2002 Dodge Ram crew cab pickup south on the Cato-Winslow Road when he lost control and slid off the right side of the road, hit- ting a large utility pole broadside at about 5:50 p.m., according to Pike County Depu- ty Sheriff Dallas Killian. Baker sustained a cut on his head and a possible concussion in the crash and was tak- en by ambulance to the hospital, where he was treated and released. The accident hap- pened just south of CR 50 S. His Dodge Ram, registered to Lee Baker, of Bloomington, was a total loss. The road was covered by glare ice at the time of the accident. On Sunday morning, a Petersburg wom- an suffered leg pain when the minivan she was driving overturned after hitting a slick spot on Illinois St., near First St.. Megan Willis, 33, of North Sixth St., was eventually able to crawl from the overturned minivan. Petersburg Police Cpl. Scott Wright said Willis was driving north on Illinois St. when the rear of her van lost traction and slid side- ways. She corrected it and lost control again before hitting a street sign and overturning on the east side of the road. Willis said when he first arrived, he found Willis laying on the ceiling of the van. He said she was wearing her seat belt when the crash happened, but when she disengaged Ice, snow blamed in two crashes causing injury By Andy Heuring Winslow passed a new "get tough" on delinquent water and sewer bills ordinance, as well as two other ordinances during their Monday night meeting. The new ordinance would place a lien on the sewer bill portion of the bill for customers that have al- ready been shut off. Winslow Council President Dick Brewster said state law doesn't allow the town to put a lien on the water portion of the bill. However, he said the benefit of the new ordinance was the town can place a lien against the property taxes and eventually when some- one buys the property, the taxes will get paid, as will the sewer bill. Councilman Dave Tisdale, who owns several rental properties, said the tenant, not the proper- ty owners, should be responsible for the delinquent bill. "There is no way the landlord can know or check on if the tenant is paying their water bill," said Tisdale. He added he has often con- tacted the town to let them know when someone has moved out so they could shut off the water. Brewster said the town has nearly $ 30,000 in overdue water bills. He explained some of those were decades old. "This is a small town and that is a lot of money for us to carry," said Brewster. Tisdale said it was because, for years, through different ad- ministrations, the town has kept a "promise list" or list of people who have promised to pay their water bills. "Collecting utility bills is the easiest thing in the world to col- lect. You just shut them off when they don't pay. If you don't pay your electric bill or your gas bill, they shut you off and that is it," said Tisdale. "So are you saying going for- ward no one gets any grace on this? " asked Clerk-Treasurer Beth Bennett. "What if you make a partial pay- ment? " asked Animal Control Of- ficer Terry Strobel. "It is tougher in a small town like this. You know these people and it is a hard bullet to swallow to shut off their water." said Brew- ster. He added he knows the in- creased water rates make it diffi- cult for some people to pay. How- ever, he added, he has looked at the list and "some of these people are just as capable of paying their water bills as I am." Councilman Don Bolin moved to approve the ordinance that will place a lien on delinquent bills. Tisdale said he had a long histo- ry with that and was going to ab- stain. Brewster seconded Bolin's motion and it was passed by a 2- 0 vote. A second ordinance passed would also place a lien against owners of property which the town has to clean-up. Brewster said there are at least two properties where the town is going to issue a notice to the own- ers demanding them to clean up the property. If they don't then, the town will clean it up for a fee and then place a lien against the property taxes for that amount. Brewster said two properties he thinks needs to be cleaned up are now held by mortgage compa- nies, one in Texas and the other in Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Winslow to crack down on overdue utility bills Ballot set for spring primary election By Andy Heuring Two more races in the May primary emerged in Pike County just before last Fri- day's noon deadline to file. In the race for County Prosecutor, Kerry Aldridge filed to challenge incumbent Darrin McDonald and Kurt Vaughn filed on the Republican ticket to challenge Randy Harris for the District 1 County Council seat. McDonald is a two term incumbent but is filing as an independent candidate this year. The previous two years, he had run as a Re- publican. Aldridge, a local attorney, two years ago ran for county council at large. The other race in the primary is also a county council race but on the Democrat side. Five term County Council incumbent Myreon Krohn is being challenged by for- mer county councilman Norman Dillon for the District 4 seat. The two served on the county council at the same time. Republican County Coucnilman Max El- liott is being challenged by Democrat Dale McKinney for the District 3 seat. The other courthouse race will be for the Assessor's office. Democrat incumbent Kim Mendel is being challeged by Republican Mi- chael Goodpaster. Several incumbents are unopposed. Dis- trict 2 Commissioner Brian Davis, District 2 County Councilman Greg Mangin, Auditor Ron Wilson, Sheriff Jeremy Britton and Re- corder Jody Hoover are unopposed. However, both parties can fill vacancies until June 30. There are two races for Township Trust- ee positions. Continued on page 2 Nicholas Baker, 17, survived a violent crash, that broke his pickup truck into two pieces, with just a cut on his head and a concussion. Baker slid off the ice covered road and hit a large utility pole Thursday evening.` Energy conservation demonstration Chuck Froehle demonstrates to kids at the Petersburg Library how efficient lights use less electricity. Ruby Sallee and Evie Sweet watch the dial of an electric meter spin at different rates with different types of lights. Froehle used the meter to show how much less power an LED light uses versus how much compact florescent and incandescent lights use. It was part of the Mad Science program hosted once a month at the library. Froehle also talked about various ways to conserve electricity demonstrating windmills, so- lar panels and a solar heater. Sweetheart Spectacular See page a-5